Husky Roster Review: McCutcheon Has Good Genes, Needs Time to Move Up

By now, we know Jimmy Lake wasn't cut out to be the University of Washington football coach, not a detail guy, let some things slide.

However, he'll forever be known for successfully recruiting and developing Husky secondary talent, for turning prospects into pros.

His final class of 2021 safeties and cornerbacks remains proof of his coaching acumen. Lake brought in four players in Dyson McCutcheon, Davon Banks, Vince Nunley and Zakhari Spears — and three remain with the Kalen DeBoer coaching staff.

For all of the expected roster housecleaning that's taken place following the coaching change, most notably with running backs and more recently with offensive linemen, the holdover defensive backs for the most part have stayed the course, though many have dealt with health challenges.

In 2022, Banks became a fill-in starter as a redshirt freshman before he was lost for the season to an unspecified injury. Nunley appeared in the season opener against Kent State before he was hurt and met a similar season-ending fate. Spears was the guy who didn't work out in Montlake, failing to get into a game for either coaching staff and ultimately transferring to Connecticut to play for Jim Mora, the former Husky linebacker and one-time UCLA and Seahawks coach.

That leaves McCutcheon, a 5-foot-11, 183-pound sophomore who hails from Claremont, California, and a famous football family. He earned his chance to show what he could do last season by appearing in five games for DeBoer's staff. It was a career beginning for him.

Going down the roster from No. 0 to 99, McCutcheon, who wears No. 19 on defense, is next up in a series of profiles about each of the Huskies' scholarship players and assorted walk-ons, summing up their spring football performances and surmising what might come next for them.

Dyson McCutcheon is the grandson of former NFL running-back great Lawrence McCutcheon and son of one-time pro corner Daylon McCutcheon.

Michigan State transfer Germie Bernard gets just behind sophomore safety Dyson McCutcheon in the final spring scrimmage to haul in this 37-yard pass from Dylon Morris.

Asa Turner and Dyson McCutcheon battle each other in this spring football drill, with a pad thrown in to offer even more of an obstacle.

Dyson McCutcheon, like nearly every other UW defensive back, is looking for his first Husky interception.

Dyson McCutcheon's best attribute might be his flat-out speed. He also played offense in high school and broke some long scoring plays.

Dyson McCutcheon (19) mixes in with defensive backs Elijah Jackson (25), Bookie Radley-Hiles (44) and Alex Cook (5) during a 2021 Husky practice.

In 2021, defensive back Dyson McCutcheon poses with then Husky football coach Jimmy Lake during his high school recruitment in Southern California.

Then UW defensive-backs coach Will Harris, middle, poses with the 2021 DBs on their campus arrival, from left to right, Vince Nunley, Dyson McCutcheon, Davon Banks and Zakhari Spears.

Entering his third season in the program, McCutcheon is a free safety and hybrid Husky who provides depth at each position, and is trying to work his way up the depth chart and someday bid for a starting role.

His family gene pool says he should be more of a factor at some point.

He's the grandson of the great Lawrence McCutcheon, a 5-time Pro Bowler, a 10-year pro and one of the pre-imminent running backs of the 1970s after playing for Colorado State. His father, Daylon, wasn't too bad either, enjoying an eight-year career as a Cleveland Browns cornerback and coming out of USC.

"I'm very blessed to have guys who have been in the league in the family," Dyson McCutcheon said. "They give me some tips and traits. I have heard things, all good things, about [Lawrence McCutcheon]. It's super cool that people know him."

As for himself, this third-generation McCutcheon boasts good speed but he's not quite a lockdown defender just yet. In the final spring scrimmage, Michigan State transfer Germie Bernard got behind him for a 37-yard reception just over his outstretched hand.

Two things came out of that play: 1) McCutcheon can't get give up that sort of long gainer when it counts on Saturdays and expect to stay on the field long, and 2) Bernard is probably going to do that to a lot of defensive backs.

DYSON MCCUTCHEON FILE

Service: After redshirting in 2021, he pulled game snaps against Portland State, Arizona State, Arizona, Stanford and Colorado for DeBoer's first Husky defense.

Stats: McCutcheon logged a tackle and a pass break-up against Colorado in the 54-7 victory at Husky Stadium.

Role: For now, McCutcheon bounces between back-up and third-team free safety and hybrid Husky. He'll likely need senior safeties Asa Turner and Dom Hampton to graduate before he gets a serious shot at starting. However, redshirt freshman Tristan Dunn and fellow classmate Nunley could get in his way, too. He's just got to trust in that trademark McCutcheon talent to create opportunity.

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